Down the Rabbit Hole
by Frankie and Avery.dont ask
Summary: If Reinette had only stepped forward and gone with him, when the Doctor disappeared into that fireplace for the last time...
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I literally have no money, so don't sue me. The BBC, Steven Moffat, et al own it. **

**I'm new to the fandom, but wholeheartedly obsessed with David Tennant. Please excuse me if my Ten is OOC, hopefully he'll get better the more I watch of the show. I will be posting more Reinette/Ten stuff, because I can't help feel she was his perfect match. Possibly a sequel to this maybe? No clue.**

**Unbeta'd. Many pardons. **

**Ta.**

**Down the Rabbit Hole**

"Wish me luck." His grin is wide and childish.

She does not answer him. Instead, she lunges forward and manages to grab hold of his arm, allowing the swinging fireplace to take her along for the ride. She doesn't need to pack a bag or pick a star. She cannot see him go without her. She knows that if he does, he will never return. It does not matter where they go, as long as she is by his side. Her parents are dead. Her daughter is dead. Her love for Louis has been dead for some time. This fireplace man whose name she will not speak, this Doctor, is all she needs.

"Reinette!" His voice is alarmed. She glances around and sees that the fireplace has shut on her clothing. A large swath of cloth from the back of her gown has torn off and been left behind in her bedroom.

She laughs, high and musical. "I care nothing for clothing. I am here with you, Angel, and that is all that matters to me."

His smile could ignite all the candles of Versailles and it most certainly sparks something in her gut. It is then that she notices the two others in the room. Rose stands frozen, with tears on her face and betrayal in her eyes. The dark skinned man, Mickey, looks angry. Reinette does not care. She cannot keep the smile from her lips, even after all those years of controlling her emotions.

"Guys," The Doctor says, grinning. "Reinette's coming with us."

Rose flings herself at him, burying her face in his shoulder and grasping tightly at his hair. "We thought you were stuck. It's been _hours_. _Five hours_."

He laughs and uses his free hand to stroke down her back. "I'm sorry, Rose. Reinette's quick thinking is what let me come back. It was a few days for me. Now, come on. Into the TARDIS."

Mickey scowls. "Hold it. You can't just go missing for five hours, have us thinking we were trapped here forever, and then waltz back here with a random girl in tow and just say 'Tally-ho' and think that it's all fine."

The Doctor raises an eyebrow. "Actually… We need to get off this ship. I don't know if it's going to self-destruct or something. So, Tally-ho. Into the TARDIS."

Mickey grumbles and Reinette laughs again as they all pile into the large blue box that is much, much bigger on the inside. "Mickey, if you want to be tetchy about it, I'll drop you back on earth, no problem."

Mickey glares at him for a moment and looks at Rose, who is still clinging and staring up at the Doctor. "Yeah, actually. Take me home."

The Doctor shrugs. "Fine by me."

He shakes off Reinette and Rose, before going over a large odd…thing in the center of the room. He jabs things, pulls levers, and presses buttons. "Earth, it is then. And then any star you ladies want."

Reinette grins. She will finally be by her Angel's side. She glances at Rose. She is accustomed to sharing men, after being the mistress of the King of France for so long. She hopes it will last forever.


	2. Chapter 2

**This won't leave me alone. So here is more. Possibly more to follow, though don't count on it. I am notoriously unreliable with things like that.**

**Part Two:**

Mickey has been gone for at least a year when someone finally notices that Reinette looks exactly the same as she did when she'd come on board.

Mickey had been angry and Rose tearful, but the two had been headed for an official split for much longer than either would be willing to admit. Rose had been mellow, almost melancholy, for about a week after they'd dropped him off. Until of course, they'd all gotten stuck on a tiny planet that wasn't being eaten by a black hole. That had been an adventure for the history books, but Satan was vanquished and Rose got back to normal. Reinette believes that the thought of loosing the Doctor permanently made Rose realize what mattered.

Reinette herself had been completely calm when their tiny space ship had started to fall backward toward the massive thing. She had been completely resigned to either fate, dying here and perhaps being reunited with the Doctor afterward or making it back to earth and living out her days with Rose. The sound of the Doctor's voice was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard in her life, when it crackled over the machine's intercom asking for both women.

That night was the first time she'd touched her fireplace man that way she'd been dreaming of since she became a woman. He was sitting with his back to the console of the TARDIS (which she still doesn't completely understand, not that it matters), staring blankly at nothing in particular. His tie was missing and the collar of his shirt was undone. Clearly, he believed he was alone. She knew that expression though, the blank mask that said loudly to anyone who would listen 'I am in pain. I hurt. Will you help please'. She knew that mask very well, but from experience and from her trip through his memories.

Stepping from her place in the shadows, she murmured his name. Not 'Doctor,' but the name he's had all those years ago. The name that the High Council of Gallifrey had taken from him when he'd gone rogue. The name that the Doctor himself could not speak.

His back snapped straight and he looked as though he'd been slapped. "Reinette?"

"Of course, Angel. Who else would call you that?" His smile at her question was strained. The skin around his eyes was tight and his mouth thinned. She frowned. "I'm sorry. Was it wrong of me to call you that? I thought you might like to…be reminded of who you are tonight. All that you've accomplished. And that fact that you aren't alone anymore."

His expression softened and he offered her his crooked smile. "No, of course not. I'm just…I just…Well. I can't. Anyway, how are you? I'm sorry about today. I'm so sorry. I never meant for something like that to happen to you when you decided to come with us."

She smiled a little and laughed at his earnest face. "Angel, I would have been content to die, if you had already been dead. Or to live out the rest of my days with Rose on a future earth. I am unafraid of what might happen. So long as I have you, at least for a little while, I am content."

He smiled again and ducked his eyes away, clearly unused to the sentiment. She went to sit beside him, still unaccustomed to the freeness of her clothing, but enjoying the ability to sit on the floor unimpeded. He dropped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She dropped her head onto his shoulder, turning to press her face into his collarbone. She heard the sharp intake of breath that he tried to hide. Smiling against his skin, she exhaled lightly, sending shivers down his spine. Her tongue snaked out and flicked gently against the sharp angle of his bone and he jerked back. "Reinette!"

She smiled up at him. "Doctor."

He looked discomfited and concerned. "Reinette, I know you think I'm lonely, but I…I wouldn't…that is. Um." He looked unsure about how to continue. She smiled encouragingly at him. "Reinette, I know your place at court was based on your performance of certain…things, but your place here is not."

She frowned for a moment, before her expression shifted into something that boarded on offended. "Doctor, I will have you know that I realize, better than you, the difference between my role at court and my role aboard this…whatever it is. Not the least of which is the fact that I was very much in charge of the Royal Court and I am in no way in charge of anything here. What I offer, I offer because I wish to. I see that you hurt, Doctor. I _know_ you and I _know_ you are lonely, but I also know that you are damaged by loss."

"Reinette, I don't want—"

"I want you, Doctor. If it were otherwise, I would find another way to alleviate your loneliness. Or get Rose in here, since she would absolutely be willing to…help. But I want you. I have wanted you since the moment I understood what it meant to want a man. I kissed you that day you appeared in my bedroom and if I had not been called away, I would have given myself to you. I love you and I have loved you since you told me that you were what monsters had nightmare about."

"Reinette, that's the love of a child, not…" He waved a hand helplessly.

"I realize. When you reappeared, the day we kissed, that was the day my love for you changed from the love of a child for an imaginary friend, to the love of a woman for a man. Please, Doctor, I ache for you and I know that you find me attractive. I've been in your head, remember."

The Doctor laughed. "Reinette, I find you more than attractive. If you had tripped into my head again, since then, I think you might like what you found."

She smiled at him, reaching out and taking his hand. She placed it at her waist, like she'd done when they danced. He stood, pulling her with him. For a moment, he seemed to waiver, uncertain. She raised an eyebrow and shifted, so his hand rested lower on her hip. He smiled down at her and kissed her, pressing her back against the console.

His lips were just as sweet as she remembered from her stolen kisses that seemed eons ago. He was cool and the erratic rhyme of his heartbeats felt strange against her skin. She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders, taking the jacket with it. He was slim, muscular, wiry. She loved his skin and the bones that she could see outlined against it. It seemed an odd thing to think: that she loved his bones, but no less true for that. They made sharp edges and deep hollows across his body and she thought she might swoon when she'd finally gotten the zip undone and pushed his trousers down past his hipbones. The bones themselves jutted out and she had a mad desire to bite them. She looked back up and him and he was smiling down at her. She had not realized that she'd been staring until he opened that deliciously thin mouth and said, "Well, do I pass muster?"

She laughed. "You, sir, are quite a formidable opponent. Significantly more formidable than my last…partner."

He grinned. "Good. I knew I liked the results of this last regeneration."

She did not understand what he meant, but made a mental note to ask him later. He put his 'weapon' to good use. She giggled at the ridiculous clichéd, but it fit with their on-going metaphor. He was a conscientious lover, and absurdly thorough. She smiled, thinking that she was going to enjoy being…what did Rose call them? The Doctor's companion? Especially if this was one of the perks.

That night, she'd taken the Doctor out of his own head and let him relax for a little while. The difference was noticeable. He was more enthusiastic and less on edge. Rose commented on it and glared jealously at Reinette all the following day. Reinette shrugged and smiled, "You are welcome to join us if you wish."

Rose looked utterly scandalized, though whether it was at the comment itself or at Reinette being the one who said it, the Frenchwoman wasn't sure.

The sex did not become a regular thing. It was actually an extremely rare occurrence, which made Reinette cherish it even more: the act itself and the Doctor allowing her to fill that void in his life.

It was not until Rose's usual trip home for Christmas., the following year, that anyone notices anything. They step out of the TARDIS with Reinette last. Mickey is standing with Rose's mother and he frowns at her. "You don't look no different…" He points out in that adorable accent of his. Reinette has never heard it before she met them, but she loves the way both Mickey and Rose speak.

The Doctor frowns and turns back to her. He examines her face, still frowning. Everyone looks at her. She raises at eyebrow. "He's right." The Doctor comments, confusion colouring his tone. "You don't look any different than you did when you came on board. How is that?"

Rolling her eyes, Rose introduces Reinette to her mother. Everyone follows Jackie up to the apartment, as the Doctor pulls out his sonic screwdriver. He walks behind her as they climb the stairs, muttering and waving the screwdriver at her. When the apartment door shuts behind him, she turns to find he is frowning at her. "You haven't age a day since I cured you of the TB."


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, guys, this present tense writing is getting on my nerves and it's difficult to keep track of. I quit.**

**Also, Mickey bashing. If you like him, I'm sorry. I don't. And I made him worse than he is.**

**This is the last bit of this. It's a fragment. As much as I love Reinette/Ten (and the fact that he was dating Sophia Myles at the time), I have discovered Martha…and Shakespeare. So, here's what I had written, in case you want to read it. Feel free to take this and do with it what you will. Just drop me a line if you do. :D**

**Sorry, friends. I know I do this a lot. I think I might have writer's ADD.**

Reinette shrugged at him. "I look no older. Is that a problem?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. Reinette, it's not…" He paused, staring at her. "Jeanne Antoinette, you have not _aged_ a single day for…" He paused again, obviously calculating in his head. "For just over eleven months."

Rose scowled. "So you cured her of _mortality_? What about me then? I just get to die?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Rose, I didn't cure her of mortality. I can't _do_ that…I don't think. At least, I've never been able to before…" He frowned down at his screwdriver, tapping it against his palm. His gaze traveled back and forth between Reinette and Rose. "Rose…"

The blonde woman's eyebrows rose. "Yeah?"

He stepped forward and pointed the screwdriver at her this time. Passing it across her eyes, he stopped. Repeated his action. Blinked. He seemed to have forgotten that there were other people in the room. "Er…Apparently, you've been cured of mortality as well. It must have been the black hole. Something about the way time moved or…"

Reinette tuned him out and his voice trailed off eventually, when he realized no one was listening anyway. She and Rose stared at one another. Jackie looked confused and Mickey was scowling, as usual.

"Neither of us are going to die? Or age?" Rose asked, not looking in his direction.

He shrugged. "Dunno. It doesn't look that way. I'm not entirely sure though. We know that you both can be hurt, though not whether you can be killed. The effect might be temporary. You both might start aging tomorrow, next month, next decade, next century, or you could both outlive me. I have no…way…" His entire face went slack. None of them had ever seen such a look on the Doctor's face before. He was clearly at a complete loss for words.

Reinette smiled gently at him and slipped a hand around his waist, fitting herself under his arm. He looked down at her, shell-shocked. "You won't be alone anymore, Doctor. You won't lose either of us."

Rose's expression fairly erupted into a smile. "Now, we really can have a 'happily ever after' if we want."

Reinette chew her lip for a moment. "Doctor, does this mean that your body has stopped aging as well? That you won't have to regenerate, unless you're injured too badly? I'm fond of this body of yours and I'd hate to see it go." She snaked her other arm around his waist and turned in to press against his side.

Mickey choked, staring at them. Rose scowled at her ex-boyfriend. The Doctor flushed faintly. Reinette smirked. She'd actually made him blush. He swallowed convulsively and nodded. "I suppose so. I don't see why I'd be that much different. The two hearts thing and the no air thing don't make my physiology that different from yours. I guess we'll see?"

"Bah." Reinette snatched the screwdriver from his loose grip and scanned him herself. "You forget, Doctor. I've been inside your head. I know how the screwdriver works."

Jackie gaped. "That's…that's…What does that even mean!"

The three time-trippers turned to look at her. Rose snorted. "She means it literally, Mum. The Doctor is a telepath and apparently Reinette here beat him at his own game. He was reading her mind, so she read his."

Reinette shrugged, a movement she'd picked up from Rose. "A door, once opened, may be stepped through in either direction."

Rose stuck out her tongue at the Frenchwoman, who laughed. "Yeah, well, I'm still jealous, even if you had to have him in your head for it to work."

The Doctor arched an eyebrow. "You can try it too if you want, sometime. You won't like what you see, I can guarantee you that. I don't even like it, most of the time, and it's my head."

Rose chuckled. "I will take you up on that, Doctor. If only to learn your real name."

The Doctor averted his gaze. "I'm the Doctor. Nothing more, nor less. Not ever again."

Mickey, seething in the background, was caught between anger and a sick kind of satisfaction. "So," he interrupted. "You leave me for 'im and he still won't have you? He wants a French whore instead?"

Reinette flinched. It had been a long time since she'd been called that and she'd grown unaccustomed. Rose looked like she'd been slapped. The Doctor pulled away from her and took two very deliberate steps toward Mickey. "Mickey Smith. Do not forget to whom you're talking. There is a reason that I am known to the Daleks as the Oncoming Storm. Say something like that again and you will find out what that reason is. Am I understood?"

Mickey glared at him silently.

The Doctor took another step. "Am. I. Understood?"

"Yeah." Mickey's voice was sullen and angry.

The Doctor watched him through narrowed eyes for a moment. "Good."


End file.
